


We're not in West Bev Anymore

by EveGatay



Category: 90210 (2008)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:15:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26913499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveGatay/pseuds/EveGatay
Summary: After years apart, every member of the group seems to be doing well in life.However, during one weekend together, they have to come clean about how happy they truly are and face the fact that life outside West Bev is a lot different from what they expected.
Relationships: Liam Court/Annie Wilson, Naomi Clark/Jordan Welland, Navid Shirazi/Adrianna Tate-Duncan, Teddy Montgomery/Shane
Kudos: 3





	1. California Here We Come

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic and English is not my native language, so I guess some parts may be a little stiff in terms of vocabulary.
> 
> A lot of the events from the 5th season aren't accurate because, honestly, it was an awful season and a lot of what happened didn't make much sense or wasn't useful plot-wise.

As Annie got home, she could only think about opening a bottle of wine, taking off those horrible shoes, laying in bed and kissing Liam. But it seemed like he had read her thoughts: when she got home, he was waiting for her in the kitchen, a bottle of pinot noir open on top of the table, some flowers next to it. He greeted her with an open smile and she couldn’t help but smile back. They kissed and she sat down, pouring herself a glass of wine.

“So, how bad was it?” Liam asked, sitting across from her.

“Honestly? Awful, just awful!”

Annie had been in negotiation with some movie producers who wanted to buy the rights for her latest book, a novel called “Red Secret”, which she anonymously had signed as Ms. Red.

“They had this blonde bimbo playing me and reading some passages, and she spoke like she’s trying to seduce the microphone. It’s like a Marilyn Monroe from hell or something”  
  
He smiled, as if she had said something funny.

“No, don’t smile at me like that. You have no idea how it feels, Liam!”

“Some pervs like what you wrote, so what? Aren’t you making good money out of it?”

 _Very soon, they’ll like it in a movie theater near you_ , she thought. The rights to her book were in negotiation at that moment, and she wasn’t sure if it was good or not.  
  
“Yes, but that’s not the problem!”  
  
“What is it then?”  
  
She looked at the wine glass in her hand and took a deep breath.

“Nevermind” she sighed.

“No, no, talk to me” he extended his arm over the table and touched her hand. “Tell me, I want to understand”.

“It’s just that… That wasn’t me Liam. I feel like my whole life is a lie, you know? And don’t take me the wrong way, what we have is amazing and I’m very grateful for that. But I imagined myself different by now. I imagined I’d be a great writer, I’d have a lot to say, lots of different experiences to talk about… But, no! Not me, not Annie Wilson. Oh, pardon, it’s not Annie, it is Ms. Red now. I’m not the writer I wanted to become, I’m a glorified, fake hooker”.

He stood up and got next to her, putting his arms around her shoulders.

“An anonymous hooker, you mean”. He was smiling as she looked at him and she felt like she was so lucky to have him there. They both laughed, he kissed her forehead and started telling her about all the things he had bought for dinner. Her cellphone vibrated on her pocket, and while Liam was talking, she decided to check if her agent wanted anything else from her that night.

It wasn’t him, but she seemed very surprised when she realized it was, actually, Naomi.

* * *

“So, what do you think?”  
  
Navid opened his eyes and there she was, a vision in black. She seemed even prettier than normal, the black dress complimenting her every curve, and the dark eyeliner made her green eyes pop. Her hair was pushed back and he had no idea what she had done, but it seemed like it was going to fall apart at any moment. Somehow, it worked, he thought.

“Navid?”

He realized that he had been staring at her for a bit too long. He recognized that expression on her face, the one he had seen so many times before, the one he made him fall in love with her. No matter how old she got, how many record deals she had, or how grown up she’d become, she would always have this pint of self-doubt, of not being too sure about things in a moment. Adrianna has always needed that little extra push, not from anyone in general, but from the people she loved. This was her way of saying their opinion mattered to her more than other people’s. He nodded and smiled.

“You’re stunning, Ade!”

She smiled. And there it was again, an Adrianna Tate-Duncan smile. Navid asked himself if one day he’d feel differently about her, but he couldn’t imagine it. He put his hand over his pocket and could feel the little box he had in it pressed against his tight. “Yes, that’s it”, he thought. “Today is the day”.

“Ok, guys” her assistance said, and Navid was suddenly reminded that he was there. “We go in five. Ade, they are going to introduce you, and as soon as they call your name, you get on the stage and walk straight to the mic, ok?”

She nodded, nervously.

“Ok, let’s go, let’s go!”

She looked at Navid one more time, as if asking “What should I do?” and he simply smiled and said “Everything will be fine, Ade. Rock their world, babe”. She smiled back, kissed him on the cheek and left the room.

Navid sat on the couch, his mind wandering. After the show, he would take her to the Santa Monica pier and propose. He hadn’t thought about the details, but he was sure the time was now. He loved Adrianna with every fiber of his being, and tonight was the perfect night.

He could hear the host on the stage saying Adrianna was a dear friend of theirs (was it?) and asking people to welcome her. For a second, Navid thought the whole room was in complete silence and his heart felt heavy. And then he heard the applause, and screaming, and people freaking out about her. Yes, that’s the Adrianna he knew.

His phone ringed inside his back pocket, bringing his mind back to reality. He answered it promptly.

“Hello! Oh… Hi, Naomi”.

* * *

Ivy checked the piece of paper on her hands one more time. 908 Bel Air Road. She checked the huge lettering with the numbers 9, 0 and 8 on the wall and realized she was in the right place. She pressed the intercom, which played a soft, piano-like tune. A voice answered on the other side almost immediately.

“Good morning! How may I help you?”

“Oh… Ah, I’m looking for Naomi. Is she here?”

“Just a second, ma’am”

Ivy felt like laughing. Ma’am. How old did this person think she was? Not even her mother was called ma’am. This was all so formal and fancy. So… Naomi.

The huge black gate opened up in front of her and she got inside. If the outside wasn’t Naomi enough, this definitely was. The house was simply huge, with glass windows everywhere. A woman was waiting for her, dressing as a french maid, and Ivy felt like she was in a parallel universe. The woman smiled and pointed Ivy towards the door.

The inside of the house was something coming out of an architectural magazine. Everything looked expensive and old, yet the whole house looked very modern. She crossed the foyer into a room with huge sofas, and went straight towards the glass window, which occupied the whole wall. From there she could see an infinite pool and a giant backyard. She could also see most of L.A. It didn’t matter what people would say, one thing was for sure: Naomi knew how to live.

“You’re new!”

Ivy was surprised. She looked back and there he was, a kid, no more than 5, looking at her with the same amaze she was looking at the house. He had olive skin, curly hair, and almond eyes.

“Oh, hi! I’m Ivy, who are you?”

“I’m Thomas!” he replied, in a way as if it was obvious who he was. She realized it was probably very obvious for the people who lived there and she was the intruder.

“Nice to meet you, Thomas. Do you know where I can find Naomi?”

“Oh… She’s crazy” he laughed.

Yes, that’s the one, Ivy thought.

“Oh, hey, there you are!”

Naomi was standing by the door frame, looking like she had just left the hair salon. Thomas looked at her and ran away through the corridor. She watched him go before turning back to Ivy.

“So, how have you been? It’s been like ages since we last saw each other” She walked towards Ivy and they hugged each other. “You do still smell like patchouli, tho.”

Ivy laughed. She could think of a time this type of comment would make her want to rip Naomi’s heart, but this was so in the past that it was difficult to even remember why. They weren’t the best of friends, but Naomi was always brutally honest and Ivy liked that about her. She always thought people who lived in houses like this were fake, living a fake life, with a fake husband and fake friends, but there wasn’t a single fake bone in Naomi’s body.

“Come, I was waiting for you in the lounge, but I guess you got lost in this house.”

“Is it yours?”

“Isn’t it nice? I loved it the moment I saw it, but the previous owner wasn’t very keen on selling it. But then, he got involved in some sex scandal and I offered my services in exchange for the house. Win-win. Come, please!”

“And what about the kid?”

“What about him? He didn’t come with the house”

“No, Naomi. Is he yours?”

Naomi stopped and looked serious for a few seconds.

“Oh, dear god, no. He’s Teddy’s!”

“He’s what?”

* * *

Dixon opened his eyes and looked at the clock. 11 a.m. It wasn’t early, but he surely could stay a little longer in bed. The night before had been one of the craziest in his life, and now all he could think about was sleeping. And breakfast. He really craved some waffles. His alarm was ringing on his phone and he tried to turn it off, but it started ringing again. He pressed any bottom to make it go away, but it wouldn’t stop ringing.

He then noticed it wasn’t the alarm clock, and picked it up.

“Hi, Dixon here!”

“Hey, Dix! Were you sleeping?”

“Annie? Hey! A little, yes”

“Well, I think you need to wake up, now”  
“Really, mom?”

“Oh, stop it! I’m serious! I got a text from Naomi”

“Was there any emergency in Washington? Did any congresswoman lost her Manolo whatevers or something?”

“No, it’s Silver.”

Dixon felt a cold coming down his spine.

“What about her? Is everything ok? Did anything happen?”

“Yes and yes. It’s difficult to explain, but Naomi wants us all back in L.A. tonight. I guess Silver will be there”

“Tonight? But I’m New York, I can’t be there tonight!”

“Well, you’ll have to. I just checked, there’s a direct flight from Newark to Los Angeles International in 2 hours. Can you get it?”

“Yes, I guess so. I’ll see what I can do”

“Thanks! And Dix…”

“Yes?”

“No, nothing, nevermind. Nice talking to you, see you tonight!”

As he hung up the phone, he sat on the bed and realized his plan of sleeping a little later wasn’t going to happen. He booked the flight on his phone, took a shower and packed his things. The taxi was waiting for him right in front of the hotel door. He was afraid he was going to lose the flight, but the taxi driver assured him that it was “easy, peasy”. Dixon was not convinced, but if he lost his flight, he at least he could still have some waffles in the airport.

* * *

“Oh, I like this one!” Silver turned on the volume, and started singing along.

_This is how we do it, it’s Friday night and I feel alright_

_The party's here on the West side_

“Come on, Teddy, I know you know this one!”

He smiled at her while driving. He thought she looked a lot better, a lot happier, a little bit like her old self. Her hair was growing back and she now looked like a badass soldier. He wanted to tell her that, but he wasn’t sure if he should. She took her cellphone and pretended it was a microphone.

_So I reach for my 40 and I turn it up_

_Designated driver take the keys to my truck_

_Hit the shore 'cause I'm faded_

_Honeys in the street say, "Teddy, yo we made it!"_

He couldn’t contain the laughter. He also couldn’t contain how nervous he was. She was entertained and oblivious to everything around her, so it was really easy to change the route and take a turn on Sunset Boulevard instead of going forward. He was a bit anxious with the streets, although it was night it was very obvious they weren’t in West Los Angeles.

“I thought you’d be happier, to be honest” she said.

“I am!”

“Oh, come on, Teddy, I know you. There’s something on your mind. Tell me”

“Nothing, I swear. I’m really happy, for real”

“I’m here for you too, you know? I’m very grateful for everything you did, but I’m your friend the same way you’re mine. Let me help you!”

He parked the car and she noticed, for the first, she had no idea where they were.

“What’s going on?”

“You want to do something for me, Silver? Just trust me!” he held her hand between his. “Now, let’s go!”

Silver was confused, but intrigued. She had been to that part of the city before, but it was a long time ago, and she couldn’t imagine what they were doing there. The gates were open and they walked through them. She wanted to ask whose house it was, if Teddy knew them, what they were doing there, what was going on, but Teddy only smiled at her and she felt this was enough of an answer.

Instead of coming inside the house, they took the side stairs and went down to the backyard. It was the most physical activity she had done in ages, and she felt like she was losing her breath by the time the stairs were over. She stopped for a second, and Teddy asked if she was ok. She nodded and he continued leading her through the enormous yard. It was night and she could see almost all L.A. from there. She got caught thinking about how much she loved and hated this city, about how much she wanted to run from it but was always brought back. She felt like crying for a second.

“Are you ok?” Teddy asked again.

“Yes, I’m great. Is this why we’re here? Did you want me to see the city?”

“No, I wanted you to see this” he touched her shoulders and turned her back to the house. There was a long staircase going up to the main house, between a pool and another yard, and a group of people were standing there. The lights turned on and she felt like her heart was coming out of her mouth.

“SURPRISE!”

There they were, all of her friends: Naomi, Ivy, Liam, Annie, Ade, Navid. Even Dixon, who swore to God he’d never put his feet on California again. They ran towards her, who couldn’t move. She felt happy but completely frightened at the same time.

“What’s going on?”

They hugged, and she felt overwhelmed with joy and love for the first time in a long time. Her eyes were wet and she wasn’t sure how long she could hold up her tears.

“Well” Naomi said. “This is for you. This is your kicking cancer in the ass party! You’re welcome!”


	2. Chasing the Sun

“Are you sure there’s no alcohol in this?” Silver asked.

“Yes. Maybe. A little” Naomi, admitted. “But come on, Silver, live a little!” They smiled at each other before Silver went back to their group of friends by the pool.

Naomi poured herself a glass of wine and stared at them. She was extremely happy seeing them all together for the first time in… how long? Washington was so different from Los Angeles, and she missed the cool breeze of the ocean and that feeling of nothing being impossible. She started feeling a bit emotional, so she shook her head and decided to join the group.

“So, what are we talking about” she asked, while sitting next to them.

“We were actually talking about Teddy,” Annie replied. “What do you mean you have a kid?”

“Oh, yes, I've been down this road before today” Ivy smiled.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to be a father. And with everything that happened with Michaela” he looked at Silver, as if he was looking for approval to say what he wanted. She nodded in response. “We decided we didn’t want to go through that again with a surrogate mother. Also, there are so many children desperate for a home and for a family, you know? That’s how we got Thomas”.

“And when can we meet him?” Adrianna asked.

“Shane took him home earlier, but if you guys want to, you can come by the house tomorrow, I’m sure he would be delighted to have you guys”

“No, no, no” Naomi intervened, smiling. “I have a whole weekend planned for us, and unfortunately there are no tours to Teddy’s house, I’m sorry”.

“Come on, Naomi” Silver laughed. “Live a little”.

“Talking about living…” Dixon stood up slowly. “What about this amazing pool, guys?”

“Dixon, don’t you dare” Naomi warned him.

“Dare what? You mean like this?” He pretended to be almost falling into the pool, but Naomi wasn’t impressed.

Navid stood next to him, laughing, and said “no, man, like this” before pushing Dixon right into the pool. Everybody laughed, except Naomi, who cried “You are such kids!”

“Shirazi, you’re gonna pay!”

Navid was laughing by the pool, and as he reached his arm to help Dixon get out, Teddy got next to him.

“Do you need any help, buddy?” he asked, right before pushing Navid into the pool.

“I think that if you’re gonna do something, do it right”, Naomi said, as she pulled Teddy into the pool as well. Liam looked at Annie, shrugged, and jumped in the water.

The girls stood up and decided to go a little far from there so as not to get wet while they fought in the water like little boys. Naomi showed up with a huge blanket, and they all sat on it. Adriana filled up their glasses and they all laughed when they heard Dixon screaming at Navid.

“Seriously, guys, thank you” Silver said, her eyes watering. “I’m really glad you are here tonight!”

“Silver…” Annie started, but she felt her voice failing.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Adriana continued.

Silver looked at her friends with a mix of embarrassment and comfort.

“It’s not like I wanted to hide anything from you, guys. It was just… hard”.

Annie was sitting right next to her and took her hand.

“I had already gone through all of it. Chemo, hospital, being sick, and I thought it was over. And then it turned out it wasn’t and I felt like my body had failed me, you know? Also, we all got separate lives, Naomi was in Washington, the rest of you were travelling all around, I didn’t want to force you to come here and look after your dying friend”

“Silver…” Naomii started.

“No, I know. I know” Silver said, staring at Naomi. “It’s just that… This was something I had to go through on my own. And not even that because Teddy found out and he wouldn’t leave my side. Kelly was also there. I wasn’t all alone, guys. But it was something I needed to face by myself. It was never personal.”

“We get it” Adrianna replied. “I just felt bad because I had no idea”

“No one had. Actually, Naomi, how did you find out?”

“Well, Teddy told me. He texted me about your last chemo session and asked if I was going to be around L.A. He had no idea where the rest of the gang was, so I decided to track these hoes and throw you a party” she smiled, while lifting her glass and toasting the air.

The girls laughed and Silver felt lucky to be surrounded by them. She wanted to tell them about how many times she had thought about giving up and how the cancer made her feel like the least capable person in the universe. However, she didn’t want them to feel sad for her, she was already doing that, thank you very much. She wanted to enjoy their time together, especially because at some point she had thought it would never be possible again.

* * *

The next day, Silver woke up feeling light. The night before had been great and she now realized she had missed her friends more than she could possibly express. She was hungry and decided to get herself something from the kitchen. The house was obviously huge and she couldn’t remember exactly how to get to the kitchen, so she decided to walk around and see what she could find. She left her room and wandered around the second floor for a while and decided to go downstairs. As she got to the main floor, she could hear a muffled voice coming from the kitchen. It was Naomi.

“No, no, you don’t understand. It’s just not possible, do it again!”

Silver didn’t want to interrupt her, and the mix of authority and despair in Naomi’s voice made her feel bad for eavesdropping. She tried going back upstairs, but her elbow accidentally touched a sculpture by the staircase. She was able to hold it before it fell down, but the sound was loud enough for Naomi to hear and come rushing into her direction.

“Oh my god, it’s you! I’m sorry, I thought maybe there was a bird inside or something. It happened before. Are you lost?”

“Yes, kinda” she replied, embarrassed. Did Naomi notice she could hear her? Should she say anything?

“Of course you are, this house has 9 bedrooms” Naomi took Silver’s hands and led her to the kitchen. “20 bathrooms, tho. Even I thought it was too much!” She opened the fridge and started preparing them breakfast.

“I heard rumors of a maid” Silver said, smiling.

“Oh, yes, Henrietta. I gave her the morning off. Besides, I like making my own food. It’s something that I learnt while in Washington. Jordan and I don’t have much time together, so we decided to enjoy as much as possible, and apparently cooking together is a thing. Very erotic, I must say.”

“Ok…”

“Did you know lots of food is aphrodisiac?”

“Oh my God…”

“Good morning!” Adriana and Navid got in the kitchen, smiling. Silver looked at them and mouthed a “thank you”, which they replied by smiling at her. “So, what do we have here?”

“Naomi is cooking for us, I guess” Silver smiled.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world” Navid replied, excited.

Soon, one by one, everybody was up and gathered around the kitchen table, drinking coffee.

“Where’s Teddy?” Liam asked.

“Oh” Naomi rolled her eyes. “He went somewhere…”

“His house”, Silver corrected her.

“To deal with something…”

“His son”.

“And he can’t be bothered with his friends”.

“He wanted to have breakfast with his kid, like he does every day”

“Whatever! Tell us, Ade, when is the world tour coming along?”

Adrianna was caught by surprise. So far, her career was doing great: she had an album deal, met lots of people in the industry, and even got a redemption chance when Dixon invited her to be featured in his album. She even presented an award at the VMA’s two nights before. However, she was still afraid of being on a stage for too long. 

She had done a lot of therapy, talked to different specialists, and it had gotten better with time, but the thought of being in front of a crowd was somehow suffocating for her. She was recommended some pills to help with the stress, which she refused to take.

Navid touched her shoulder and she smiled.

“There are no dates yet, we are focusing on producing nice music first. I think we can get Billie Eilish to feature with me in a single” she said, excited.

Everyone seemed very excited for her, except Naomi, who seemed a bit confused.

“Isn’t she like the goth Ivy?” she asked. They laughed again, and Ivy showed her the middle finger. “Dear god, Ivy, surfing didn’t do nothing for your sense of humour”.

“Billie is a hot commodity now,” Dixon said. “We’ve been trying to get a hold of her for months now, but so has everyone else”. Dixon had been working as a music producer for the last 3 years. Working with Adrianna gave him notoriety and he then started working with big names of the musical industry.

“I actually know her,” Ivy said, pouring herself a little more coffee.

“What?”

“Yes, last tournament she did some promotion for our brand and I met her at the launch party. She’s from California, actually, so we had a lot to talk about”

“How come you know Billie Eillish?” Dixon asked, amazed.

“Was it like meeting yourself?” Naomi intervened. Ivy just smiled.

“I guess we all got nice lives, hun?” Navid said. “I mean, we all worked out fine. Dixon is a hot-shot DJ and producer, and if he wasn’t full of himself before, right now he must be unbearable” they all laughed. 

“Teddy got a great family, Annie is a famous blogger,” at the mention of her name, Annie drank the whole cup of coffee, trying to hide her face and avoid having to smile and pretend she was ok with that. “Liam… is Liam, I don’t know what he does, he’s hot I guess”

“Screw you, Navid.”

“Ivy is this super-famous, super-feminist, girl-power surfer, Naomi has one of the biggest P.R. companies in Washington, and Silver…”

There was an awkward pause, and Silver felt the world around her crashing down. Yes, what about Silver? Silver was supposed to be a big movie director, move to New York, change the world. Yet, she never set foot outside L.A, her whole life was now defined by cancer. She never got to do any of the things she wanted.

“Silver is with us today, and that makes us all very lucky just to be here”. Navid continued, looking at her and smiling. He seemed like he was about to cry, so she walked towards him and hugged him. Adrianna hugged them both and soon everyone was hugging each other in the kitchen.


	3. Sunburn

Everyone was outside, drinking and talking. Annie felt this was the perfect opportunity, and when she noticed Dixon was alone inside, looking for something in the fridge, she ran towards him.  
“I need to talk to you!” she said, a little louder than expected.  
Dixon was caught by surprise, and looked at her like she was about to ask him for something she shouldn’t. “What’s going on?”  
“We need to talk about dad”  
“No, we don’t” he gave her a cold smile and tried to dismiss her, but she held his arm.  
“Dix, please.”  
“Annie, no. Just no”  
“He’s our father, Dixon”  
“No, he is your father. He is a guy who adopted me, then abandoned me and my mother, my sister, and the one who couldn’t be bothered to visit me in the hospital when I almost died”.  
“I know you’re angry and…”  
“Angry? Annie, I’m not angry, I’m past angry. Can you seriously look me in the eyes and tell me you think he cares about us? From the moment he left our house, he was never our father again. It was like he was desperate to get rid of us, like he couldn’t wait to live his life without his wife and children in the way!”  
“You know it’s not like that, Dixon!”  
“Then how is it, Annie? Hun? I’m sorry, Annie, you may be daddy’s little girl, but I don’t want any part of that. Actually, I don’t want any part of this!”  
He shrugged his arm from her and left. Liam, having just seen what happened through the window, rushed towards Annie.  
“Are you ok?” he asked.  
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just… It’s Dix. Daddy invited us to stop by, he texted me earlier today. I guess he saw a picture of us together on Instagram or something.”  
“You have your father on Instagram?”  
“Liam, please”  
“Sorry, go on”  
“I wanted them to get along, to move on. They had this huge fight after granny’s funeral and Dixon didn’t want to come back here since. I just wanted to make things better, you know?”  
“Let me talk to him, maybe he will feel better talking to someone who has no actual feelings towards your dad”  
“It makes sense”  
“Where is he?”  
“I guess he left, I don’t know.”  
“I’ll track him down, don’t worry” Liam kissed Annie on her cheeks. “I’ll text you, ok?” He turned towards the group of friends and shouted “Yo, Shirazi, I have a quest for you!”

\--  
Naomi looked around and seemed intrigued. She had just gotten back from the shower, and her group of friends seemed virtually smaller.  
“Where are the guys? It is like a lesbian fantasy here”  
“I don’t know, Dixon isn’t here and Navid had to handle something with Liam,” Adrianna replied.  
“What? No, this is wrong. I have a lot of things planned for us, they can’t simply vanish. Annie, get ahold of your man and your brother, please, and tell them to get back here now!”  
“I’m sorry, Naomi, I can’t” Annie shrugged.  
“Oh, Jesus. Ok, no problem, we can have fun, right girls?”  
“Actually, I’m not feeling so good guys” Silver said.  
“What? Are you ok? Do you need anything?”  
“I’m fine, I’m fine, it’s just that my body is still healing, and to be honest, this was the most fun I had in awhile. I guess it was a bit too much”  
“If you want to, we can do something lighter, maybe stay in” Adrianna replied, looking at Naomi.  
“Sure, sure, of course. This is for you, Silver, anything you want.”  
“If you guys don’t mind, I think I need to lie down a little.”  
“Of course, please, the room is yours, and if you need anything, Henrietta will be pleased to bring it to you”  
Silver smiled. She excused herself and got back to her room. In fact, she wanted to go home, but she felt it was too unconsidered of her to say so. She closed the door behind her and let her body fall on the mattress.  
Looking through the huge glass window, she felt lonely. Her friends were just outside, waiting for her, and she felt like a huge burden on all of them. She moved her hand through her head, feeling how spiky her hair was now. She was never emotionally attached to it, but losing all of it made her feel less of a woman, for a while. She felt like she was becoming less and less each day. Cancer took away her breasts, her uterus, her hair. She wondered what else she was about to lose.

\--  
“Really, Annie, where are the guys?” Naomi asked.  
“I asked Dixon to visit dad with me.”  
“Oh” Naomi expressed, drinking a sip of wine in the hopes of not having to say anything else.  
“Wait, what happened?” Adrianna asked.  
“Do you remember when Dixon got into that car accident?”  
“Sure”  
“Well, do you remember my dad was nowhere to be found? Dixon took that pretty hard. My mom flew all the way from Paris to see him, and dad couldn’t be bothered to leave home for a while. After that, my dad tried to reach out to Dixon to apologize. To be fair, he didn’t know Dixon was in an accident, we actually couldn’t talk to him until it was all better. But Dixon didn’t care, he was already upset with everything. So, when granny died we all got together for the first time in years: me, Dixon, mom and dad. Mom and dad actually were ok, they seemed to had moved on with their lives, but not Dixon. When my father tried talking to him, Dixon told him that he was adopted just so he could be abandoned all over again. He even reminded dad that he wasn’t the first son he had abandoned” Annie looked at Naomi, who replied with a bit horror on her face.   
“Well, long story short, because mom doesn’t live in L.A anymore, and Dixon doesn’t want anything to do with dad, he said he would never be back, and he moved to New York right after.”  
“I kind of understand him, though” Adrianna confined.  
“I do, too, really,” Annie replied, “but I really wish they’d move on. I know Dixon, and all this anger inside is being really bad for him. Besides, I feel like my family is slowly falling apart. Whenever mom is back in the country, Dixon refuses to meet her here because of dad, and it’s always so complicated. I just wish the two of them got things straight. Yes, he made mistakes, but he’s still our dad, and loves Dixon, I know that”.  
That whole talk about parents seemed too much to Ivy, who made an excuse about going to the restroom and decided to go back to her room. She felt sorry for Annie being in the middle of that mess, but she couldn’t blame Dixon one bit for not being too eager to have a relationship with his father.  
As she walked down the hall towards her room, she could hear a soft weeping. She stopped and considered if this was something that she should get involved or not, but soon realized she wouldn’t be able to rest unless she at least tried. She knocked on Silver’s door, and to her and Silver’s surprise, it wasn’t really closed; the door slowly opening and showing Silver sitting on the floor, next to the bed.  
“I’m sorry,” Ivy started, “I heard something and I thought maybe you needed help.”  
Silver smiled, a weak, sad smile that Ivy knew too well.  
They simply looked at each other for a few minutes, then Ivy closed the door behind her and sat next to her.  
“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, I just want to keep you company.”  
“I actually wanted to apologize to you”  
“To me?” Ivy thought she may have heard it wrong.  
“Yes. When the girls asked me about not telling anything, I realized that it was a bit unfair. Of course, I stand by everything I said, but as I was explaining myself, I looked at you, and I realized that this is exactly what you went through you Raj, and I remember how much you suffered by seeing things from afar. What I mean is that I understand why he did what he did, and I also understand why you felt bad, and I felt like I was putting you through all of it again, and I’m sorry. It was never my intention!”  
“I know. You know, I hated Raj so much, not him exactly, but what he did. I loved him, and at the same time, I had this hatred towards the whole situation.” Ivy didn’t mean to, but she could feel the tears coming.   
“It was hard, and I imagine it was hard for you too. When he was gone, the worst of all was there was nothing left for me. I couldn’t even hate him anymore without being reminded that he was no longer there”. She cleaned the tears on her face and tried to smile.   
“What I want to say is: you should let your friends be your friends and take care of you, because they love you and they want to be with you. But I also understand why you’d keep this from them, and I can’t hate you like I did Raj because I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. I know it you never meant to hurt, just like he never did. And I don’t want to lose you like I lost him.”  
Ivy couldn’t control her tears anymore. Silver hugged her and both cried in silence for a while.  
“I know you guys love me, and I appreciate it so much because I love you too, deeply” Silver said, trying to catch her breath. “But it makes me feel a bit bad when I notice that people treat me like this pathetic thing that can die at any moment.”  
“No one thinks that.”  
“I do. The cancer is finally gone, I finally have my life back, and I have no idea what to do with it. Isn't it pathetic?”  
“Dude, really… Do you think any of us know what we’re doing?” They both smiled at each other. “We just… go with the flow, I think. You’re amazing, Silver, and I’m sorry we couldn’t be here for you all the way through. But we’re here now. You don’t need to decide anything on your own.”  
They smiled at each other and held hands, sitting in silence while they looked through the window.

\--  
“Dixon!” Navid yelled.  
Dixon looked back and saw both Navid and Liam running in his direction.  
“What are you doing here? How did you know where to find me?”  
“Come on, you are very predictable, man” Liam replied, smiling.  
“Also, Liam called the bar and people told him you were here” Navid continued.  
“Oh, great” Dixon smiled ironically.  
“Come on, dude, tell us what happened. You left so sudden”  
“Nothing, nothing happened. I just wanted to be alone, that’s all.”  
“So you came to the beach?” Liam asked.  
“I didn’t know where else to go, to be honest.”  
The three sat on the sand, looking at the ocean in front of them.  
“Do you remember how we used to spend hours here, just surfing, and talking about crap?” Liam asked.  
“You mean, we surfed while you cried about Naomi, or Annie, or Naomi, or Annie?” Dixon replied.  
“Don’t forget about Naomi and Annie” Navid added.  
“Ha, ha, you guys are really funny!” Liam replied. “But, for real, sometimes I think about it, and we sure had lots of drama, but being here with you guys was one of the best parts of my day.”  
“Mine too, man” Navid smiled.  
“Except that Teddy was also here” Dixon remembered.  
“Yeah… Let’s get him, though. It’s not like we have anything else to do.” Liam suggested.  
“What about Naomi and the extra detailed plan she had for the weekend? Besides, Teddy has a kid now”  
“We’re already out. And we can bring the kid as well, teach him how to be a man” Navid said, really proud of himself.  
“Who’s gonna teach him, you?” Dixon replied, and they all laughed.  
“I’ll have you known that I intended to propose to Ade here, a very big move for a very big man, my dude”  
“Wait, what?”  
“You’re proposing to Ade?” Liam sounded excited. “That’s huge, congrats, I guess. When? How? I mean… I’m lost”  
“It was supposed to be two nights ago. Ade was so nervous about being on TV, I wanted to go out with her, celebrate, bring her here, work the Shirazi charm on her, and propose. But then Naomi called and I don’t know… it seemed a bit inappropriate at the time”  
“And now what?”  
“Now I don’t know. I’ll wait for another moment, I guess”  
“Dude, you should do it this weekend” Dixon proposed.  
“Yes, he’s right, we’re all here, she’s got her friend with her, it’s going to be awesome”  
“Just be careful when you kneel down, you’re kinda short, it may look like she’s being proposed by a gnome”  
Dixon and Liam laughed, while Navid pretended he hadn’t heard..  
“Not everyone is here, though” Navid said, excited. “We want Teddy!” Navid stood up quickly, while his friends followed him. He suddenly stopped and looked back at them. “Did that sound…”  
“Kinda gay? Yes”


End file.
